Monday, June 27, 2011

June Recipe: Beef Wellington

Well it all started in April when Brad was out of town for the month. I became addicted to an old favorite show of mine on Netflix, Take Home Chef with Curtis Stone. I found myself every night cozy on the couch Penny, Me, and Curtis Stone. If you have never seen his show I recommend you check it out, especially if you like to cook! In one episode he made Beef Wellington and for something that seemed so hard to make he made it seem simple. So I put this on my "To Make" list. I attribute my love of cooking to my father so there is nothing that I love more than being able to cook for him. I decided Father's Day would be perfect for such an ambitious recipe. Beef Wellington is one of those recipes, that I at least have always thought was on the untouchable list of things to make. Like beef bourguingnon it is in the "advanced" section. Well just like beef bourguingnon (which I make all the time since conquering it and it it amazingly easy) it's not that it is a hard thing to make, it just has a LOT of steps, and it is important to follow directions (something I hate doing). Well after an afternoon of cooking we finally sat down to celebrate my Dad and eat this "Wellington". All I can say is you HAVE to make this at least once in your life! It is just incredible! And again it takes a long time and it has a lot of steps, but you can do, and it is so worth it. Especially if you are trying to impress someone with your cooking skills, you look like a pro with this. So just like Beef Bougungnon this recipe is now in my recipe box. I look forward to making this for the rest of my days for celebrations, birthdays, or just a special Friday night. I serverd this with a red wine reduction sauce (recipe bellow), fresh green beans cooked to al'dente and tossed with garlic and butter, and heirloom tomatoes and red onions. Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons/45 ml olive oil

One 3-pound/1.4-kg piece beef tenderloin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound/450 g button mushrooms

3 large shallots, finely chopped

One 17.3-ounce/490-g package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

1 large egg, beaten to blend

1/2 cup/125 ml dry red wine

1 pound/450 g fresh thin green beans, trimmed

2 tablespoons/30 g butter

PREPARATION:

TO PREPARE THE BEEF AND MUSHROOM MIXTURE:

Heat 1 tablespoon/15 ml of oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef to the hot pan and cook until brown on all sides but still very rare in the center. This will take 8 minutes total. Transfer the beef to a plate and refrigerate until it is cold. Set the pan aside (do not wash the pan).

Place the mushrooms in a food processor and blend for 10 to 15 seconds or until all the mushrooms are very finely chopped. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons/30 ml of oil in the same frying pan over moderate-high heat.

Add the shallots and sauté for 1 minute or until the shallots are tender, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the finely chopped mushrooms and sauté 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the mushroom mixture is dry. Set the mushroom mixture aside to cool completely.

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE THE BEEF:

Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each pastry sheet into a 16x10-inch/40x25-cm rectangle.

Brush 2 inches/5 cm of one long side of one rectangle with some of the beaten egg. Place one long side of the second rectangle atop the egg-coated edge of the first rectangle, overlapping the edges by 2 inches/5 cm. Press gently to seal.

Spread half of the mushroom mixture lengthwise over the center of the pastry. Place the beef on top of the mushroom mixture. Spread the remaining mushroom mixture over the top of the beef. Fold the pastry over the beef, overlapping the pastry on top of the beef.

Brush the pastry ends with some of the beaten egg, then fold the pastry ends over the sides and top of the beef. Turn the pastry-encased beef over and onto a heavy baking sheet so that it is seam side down. Brush some of the beaten egg over the pastry. Score the top of the pastry decoratively with the dull side of a knife.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through and a meat thermometer registers 130°F/50°C when inserted into the center of the beef for medium-rare doneness. The temperature of the beef will rise as it rests.

Let the beef rest for 20 minutes. Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Reserve the pan juices. Simmer the wine in a heavy based small saucepan over a high heat for 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Pour in the reserved juices from the beef. Simmer 1 minute. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

My name is Kara and this is my blog. I love to cook, craft, travel and have adventures with my husband and our dog Penny Lane. This is a catalogue of our journey and all of the things I love in between.